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One in Seven ADF Warriors Overweight |
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Sunday, 22 February 2009 |
 The ADF is fast becoming too fat to fight, with almost 7500 of our 53,000 troops classified as obese reports the Sunday Mail.
An investigation by The Sunday Mail has found at least one in seven members of the Defence Force is dangerously overweight (BMI > 30), seriously reducing the battle-ready effectiveness of the nation's frontline of defence.
This is more than three times the ratio recorded last month by the United States military, which says it is battling a health crisis because it has 70,000 obese troops out of 1.5 million.
The ADF admits it has "an issue" with overweight personnel and its specialist research centre - based at the University of Queensland - has been commissioned to investigate the cause.
The study will look at the impact of changes to recruiting standards in 2006, when fuller-figure recruits were allowed in to "broaden the selection pool".
The Sunday Mail's investigation found:
A TOTAL of 104 military personnel were discharged last year because of obesity complications.
ANOTHER 183 were put into a rehabilitation program to treat their rapidly expanding girths.
A FURTHER 2000 were in treatment programs for musculo-skeletal conditions, a complication of obesity.
THE navy has the highest ratio of obese personnel, followed by the army and air force.
AUSTRALIAN soldiers are becoming supersized, an average 16kg heavier than their World War I counterparts.
One
corporal - who weighs 125kg but stands 182cm tall - is appealing a
decision to discharge him from the army because he is obese. The
father of two young children has one more year to go before he can
retire from the Defence Force after more than 15 years of service.
If discharged, he stands to lose his income and pension.
The
54-year-old, who prefers not to be named for fear of reprisals, has
been taking a prescribed amphetamine or "speed"-based medication to
help him lose weight by suppressing his appetite. He has also tried
months of dangerous diet shakes and starving himself to get the weight
off.
Australian Defence Force surgeon general and commander of
the joint health command, Major-General Paul Alexander, said obesity
was a problem for the Defence Force, with an obesity rate of 14 per
cent - that ratio of troops have a BMI (body mass index) of 30 or more.
"That is less than the general Australian community at 20 per cent," he said. "We would expect to be below the norm.
"We
recruit people and have them working in an environment undertaking
physical activity, and that would necessarily mean that our Defence
Force people have a higher rate of physical activity compared to the
Australian population."
Weight problems add stress to already
stressful jobs, costing many soldiers promotions and leading some to
try desperate measures such as starving or taking risky medication to
shed weight.
Maj-Gen Alexander said a change in the recruiting standard could be contributing to the problem.
In
2006, guidelines changed so people with a BMI of up to 33 could enlist.
Previously, the level was 30. BMI is a measure of a person's
height-to-weight ratio.
"That was done because we are saying we are a country over time that has increased our size and weight," Maj-Gen Alexander said.
"We felt that with the BMI recruiting level set at 30, we were possibly excluding people who were otherwise fit and well.
"But
we won't recruit anybody with a pre-existing medical condition. We use
BMI strictly as one tool in many, it is a screening tool, it comes down
to health professionals to assess individuals on a case-by-case basis."
Maj-Gen Alexander could not say whether obesity was worst among officers or other ranks.
"I wouldn't say most come from the navy, but the navy is over-represented compared to the other two services," he said.
"The
way the ship operates 24/7, they are either working or sleeping, they
have access to good grub on board and the opportunity to exercise is
limited.
"The army and air force have people on physical fitness programs during the day and that is part of the routine.
"This
is one of the many areas we are researching of how to maintain and keep
our people fit and to determine and reduce the risk when we take them
on operations.
"One of the things they are examining is whether we are subjecting people with a BMI of 30 to 33 to risk by bringing them in.
"If it indicates we need to modify our policy, then we will look at that."
The Australian Defence Force has had a rehabilitation program operating since 2005.
"In all three services we have a very active rehabilitation service," he said.
"If
someone is identified who is obese and has higher cholesterol or
hypertension that we think are complicating their health, then that
person will be referred by a treating doctor through to the ADF rehab
program.
"We have a number of members (on that program) where
obesity has been part of a medical condition, they may have high blood
pressure and muscular-skeletal problems that relate to having a high
BMI."
He said personnel were not downgraded medically unless
there were "complicating factors in relation to their obesity or their
obesity was quite severe".
"And that is a temporary downgrade to say we need to start managing this situation or problem," he said. |
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